GOP bucks Trump on blue slips
Senate Republicans are standing their ground against President Donald Trump's order to get rid of so-called blue slips.
Last month, Trump tried to pressure Senate Republicans to end the process that allows minority party senators to veto judicial nominees who would serve in their home states. The president publicly called on Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley to 'step up' and end it, adding that he helped the senator get reelected 'when he was down, by a lot.'
It didn't work. GOP senators dismissed Trump's push in a rare split with the president. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said there was little appetite to nix blue slips.
And it looks like the divide will continue when lawmakers return this fall, Hailey Fuchs reports this morning, as Republicans plan to change the rules to speed up the confirmation process for Trump nominees on the Senate floor.
'The Senate's not going to give up the blue slip,' Sen. John Kennedy, a Judiciary member, told Hailey in an interview. 'So my appeal to the president is: please reconsider. Why do we want to have this fight for nothing?'
Republicans also fear getting rid of blue slips could hurt them later on if Democrats regain control. Grassley seems to have anticipated that danger; he polled his committee members to see if they'd support getting rid of blue slips, Thom Tillis recently said on the Senate floor. Tillis said he told Grassley he'd honor the policy even if it were rescinded.
'I get President Trump is frustrated,' Tillis told Hailey. 'But I also understand, as somebody who's spent 10 years in this institution and 10 years on Judiciary, it would be a bad idea. And he would even regret it.'
GOOD TUESDAY MORNING. Mia is back from vacation — big thanks to Calen and Cassandra Dumay for holding down the fort while she was gone. Email us: mmccarthy@politico.com and crazor@politico.com.
And congratulations to Rep. Kat Cammack and her husband Matt, who welcomed their daughter Augusta Dair last week.
THE LEADERSHIP SUITE
GOP leaders back Trump in Russia-Ukraine talks
Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson backed the president Monday as he hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy just days after Trump's 1:1 with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Johnson praised Trump on X as 'the PEACE PRESIDENT' while Thune applauded him for 'his courage to engage with all parties in a way his predecessor refused to do.' The majority leader added that the Senate is ready to provide Trump 'any economic leverage needed to keep Russia at the table to negotiate.'
A bill by Sen. Lindsey Graham to impose secondary sanctions on Russia is on ice as the senator yields to Trump on the timing of such action.
Trump and Zelenskyy both expressed hopes for a future trilateral meeting with Putin to 'deter any future aggression against Ukraine.' Trump also said he would support European security guarantees for Ukraine, but stopped short of promising U.S. troops.
POLICY RUNDOWN
OVERSIGHT TO RECEIVE EPSTEIN FILES — House lawmakers will get their hands on a first batch of Jeffrey Epstein-related files Friday provided by the Justice Department, Oversight Committee Chair James Comer announced Monday. He cautioned it could take a while for all the DOJ materials to come through, Hailey reports.
'There are many records in DOJ's custody, and it will take the Department time to produce all the records and ensure the identification of victims and any child sexual abuse material are redacted,' Comer said.
Democrats are gearing up to reignite the controversy over the secretive nature of the Epstein files once lawmakers return to Capitol Hill next month.
MORE RSC BRIEFINGS ON MEGABILL 2.0 — The House Republican Study Committee is hosting GOP staff this week for more discussions on potential policies to include in a second reconciliation package, according to invites viewed by our Benjamin Guggenheim.
On Tuesday, aides will hear from key members of the America First Policy Institute like Save America Coalition co-chair Steve Moore. Wednesday's focus will be on values-related, pro-family policies featuring Paul Dupont, director of policy at the American Principles Project, and Tom McClusky, director of government affairs at CatholicVote. Thursday's agenda will center on immigration policy, with speakers including Grant Newman of the Immigration Accountability Project.
WRIGHT TALKS RISING ELECTRICITY COSTS — Energy Secretary Chris Wright told our Josh Siegel in an exclusive interview he knows Republicans could suffer for rising electricity prices ahead of midterms next year, but he's hoping voters will point to Biden administration policies instead.
Last week Wright was in Iowa — a state that gets 60 percent of its electricity from wind, higher than any other state — and said wind and solar projects that have already started construction should continue to qualify for the tax credits that Republicans phased out in the GOP megabill. The energy secretary also acknowledged that wind-powered grids can be successful in some contexts.
Joining Wright were Iowa Republicans who have called on Trump to take a softer approach to federal tax breaks for wind and solar initiatives.
'There are a number of projects that have been planned already, and we would like to see those continue to qualify,' Sen. Joni Ernst said.
Best of POLITICO Pro and E&E:
THE BEST OF THE REST
Congressional Book Club: Lawmakers Earn Big Money from Author Side Hustles, from Dave Levinthal at NOTUS
New Capitol Police chief faces DC takeover, member security, from Justin Papp at Roll Call
THE CARRY OUTA recess spotlight on lawmakers' Capitol Hill food recs
Rep. Brad Schneider said he often grabs a pre-made chicken caesar wrap from Au Bon Pain in Cannon. Asked if it was good, he replied: 'It's edible.'
What's your go-to meal in the Capitol? Email mmccarthy@politico.com and crazor@politico.com.
CAMPAIGN STOP
DEMS VOW TO DEFEND MAIL-IN VOTING — Schumer is promising to slow any legislative effort to roll back mail-in voting after Trump on Monday promised to end the practice ahead of 2026.
Schumer called the move Trump's latest attempt to undermine American democracy and vowed that Senate Democrats 'will make sure that any and every measure that would make it even more difficult for Americans to vote will be dead on arrival in the Senate.'
GOP LEANS INTO IMPEACHMENT MESSAGING — Republicans are hoping to shore up midterm support by warning their voters that 'Democrats would vote to impeach [Trump] on their first day' if they win the majority, Brakkton Booker and Andrew Howard report. A digital ad by the National Republican Congressional Committee claims Democrat's 'Project 2026' agenda is to 'impeach President Trump.'
Democrats have little consensus about their party's strategy on impeachment and many are wary of even talking about it.
'We should never, at least in the near future, use the 'I' word,' said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. 'One of the things we learned is that articles of impeachment are also articles of recruitment for Trump.'
WHO'S RUNNING — Democrat Graham Platner, a little-known oyster farmer, is launching a Senate bid in Maine in an attempt to oust Sen. Susan Collins. It's disrupting establishment Dems' plans to recruit and unite behind Gov. Janet Mills, Holly Otterbein reports this morning. … Former Sen. Sherrod Brown officially launched his comeback bid for the Senate seat in Ohio, kicking off a nearly 15-month face-off against Sen. Jon Husted.
JOB BOARD
American Oversight is elevating Peter Kenny to VP of litigation and investigations. Kenny is a White House and House Oversight alum.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Former President Bill Clinton … Sen. Pete Ricketts … Rep. James Comer … former Rep. Will Hurd … Mary Matalin … Julius Genachowski of the Carlyle Group … Brody Mullins … Adam Tomlinson … BGR Group's Steve Pfrang … Steve Sothmann … Andrew Vlasaty … Maria Reynolds of Sen. James Lankford's office … Christian McMullen … Adam Conner of the Center for American Progress … Shannon Campagna … Rob Damschen of Gov. Glenn Youngkin's office … Tipper Gore
TRIVIA
MONDAY'S ANSWER: This one stumped you all. Emmanuel Leutze was the first painter to depict an African American in a Capitol mural. Leutze added a black pioneer to his painting, Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way (1861-1862), shortly after President Abraham Lincoln signed the first Emancipation Proclamation.
TODAY'S QUESTION, from Mia: Who was the first U.S. president born in California?
The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@politico.com.
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Trump wants to get rid of mail-in voting. It's become an increasingly important part of American elections.
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